In 2023, the number of corporate bankruptcies in major world economies increased for the second consecutive year amid high interest rates, the rollback of post-COVID support measures, inflationary pressure, and unstable demand, according to data from the international company Dun & Bradstreet.
As reported by Finmarket, the number of businesses declared insolvent increased in more than half of the 45 countries for which Dun & Bradstreet annually analyzes data. In 14 countries, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Poland, the 2023 figure exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
In the United States, the number of bankruptcies rose by 79% over the year, reaching a ten-year high. In Canada, the increase was 70%, in Poland 56%, in India and the Netherlands 53%, and in Ukraine 48%.
Conversely, ten countries saw a decline in bankruptcies by more than 10%, including Croatia (35%), Belarus (29%), Italy (23%), Turkey (19%), and Russia (18%).
On average, across all countries, the number of bankrupt businesses increased by an average of 12% per year in 2022-2023, compared to approximately 5% in 2020-2021, when most economies had state support measures in place. Despite the economic freeze during the pandemic, the number of bankruptcies was below the levels of 2018-2019.
Experts at Dun & Bradstreet, whose global database covers nearly 600 million companies, point to the risk of a further increase in bankruptcies this year due to geopolitical risks, expensive credit, inflationary pressure, and rising costs.
In Russia, the number of corporate bankruptcies has been decreasing over the past two years, partly due to a 2022 moratorium on creditors filing bankruptcy claims against debtors. However, in the first quarter of 2024, this figure showed an increase.
